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Editor's Note:
Hi eCommNewz Readers,
Here is an interesting piece of news:
"Visa announced Monday it’s moving forward with plans to add
old-fashioned password protection to credit card purchases made
online. The question is: Are consumers worried enough about theft
of their data that they’ll be willing to take the extra step?"
To read more: click
here!
Here is an interesting piece of news:
"Visa announced Monday it’s moving forward with plans to add
old-fashioned password protection to credit card purchases made
online. The question is: Are consumers worried enough about theft
of their data that they’ll be willing to take the extra step?"
To read more: click here!
Here is an interesting piece of news:
"Visa announced Monday it’s moving forward with plans to add
old-fashioned password protection to credit card purchases made
online. The question is: Are consumers worried enough about theft
of their data that they’ll be willing to take the extra step?"
To read more: click
here!
Best Wishes,
The eComm Newz
Team
In helping small business online I'm often asked
for "Average" prices for establishing an ecommerce enabled presence
online.
There really is not an *average* cost for ecommerce because there
are far too many factors to consider in establishing a secure and
effective shopping environment and securing ordering information.
The number of products and their pricing, sales volume and profit
margin affects the type of shopping cart software dramatically.
The number of customers you expect and whether you're maintaining
a permanent customer database for future marketing reference determines
many expenses.
I have set up shopping carts for online businesses selling a high-profit
item with low volume of sales through a *free* service that only
takes a 10% cut of the sale price with NO monthly fees or ongoing
bank or merchant account fees. On the other hand, if you have high
volume sales with low margins and more than 10 or 15 products to
sell, it varies from a very basic $20 to $50 monthly fee for the
secure ordering environment, (*without* database needs for customer
retention or product inventory, shipping and no updating of merchandise
prices, etc.) to a fully automated system with all of the above
and additional software requirements.It could be thousands of dollars
monthly because of complex customized solutions required.
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The variables are too great to define an average price. What you
sell, how many sales you make, what your profit margin is and the
extent of your database and custom software required, all combine
to determine a price for YOUR needs.
Security of customer information is critical
and should always be of paramount importance. Most online shopping
cart hosting services can be trusted overall with the security of
your data if you choose a well known and respected company. That
should always be well researched before you commit to using any
particular service.
If you pay the additional expense of hosting your own secure server
and maintain sensitive and private customer information yourself,
then you must simply follow sensible security recommendations that
have become internet industry standards. Once again, rely on a well
respected professional team to set up a secure environment for you.
Sometimes this is offered as a benefit of your hosting company,
or you might have your own server with an IT staff to maintain and
protect information. As stated before, the sales volume, profit
margin, number of products and complexity of your database needs
will determine how far you need to go. Starting with the simplest
hosted third party service and minimal record keeping done by hand
up through a fully automated complex system with built-in security
measures.
There is no quotable average because your needs are not the same
as that of other online businesses. If you operated an online business
with a sales figure, profit margin, overhead expenses and operating
costs that were the same as a similar business, *then* you might
determine an average for that sales volume, within that industry
and with that particular business model.
Return on investment should be a standard starting point for determining
your needs in the planning stages, so you absolutely must assesss
those needs before you launch your online sales.
All of these variables are a part of establishing a customized solution
for your business.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WebSite101 "Reading List" Weekly Netrepreneur Tip Sheet Ezine emphasizing
small business online Website101.com/
. e-Tutorial online at: website101.com/
By week's end you're ready expand your business to the web!
We at the Editorial Team would like to thank all our
readers for reading eCommNewz. We hope you find this information
useful.
Sincerely,
The eCommNewz
Team
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